HSR THEORY - COULD NIHILITY, VORACITY AND DEVICE IX BE LINKED ?
All my thanks to Bunni on the old friends Discord Server. I wouldn't have had this fucked up theory without her. Also, this is messy and probably nonsensical but I had to purge it.
The question asked was about "how close Voracity and Destruction are in terms of beliefs". A valid question, as something like Voracity and "devourer of worlds" imply mindless destruction.
Nanook's Emanator destroys with purpose, where Ouroboros seems to act more on instinct than anything, an animal feeding itself rather than a sentient being with an agenda.
Looking at Ourobos description in the databank, something struck me :
The drinker of worlds, the unsatisfied devourer, the black hole with thought. THEY are an Aeon and a Leviathan at the same time.
"The blackhole with thought".
Something one would expect to read about IX, a literal blackhole, rather than Oroboros. And yet, it's Oroboros description. The second part of the description only birthed more thoughts :
In the eyes of Oroboros, life is a flickering fragment floating in the sea of void, destined to return to the darkness along with the stars which birthed THEM — This darkness is within the depths of THEIR mouths.
Sea of void, return to the darkness... Sounds an awful lot like Nihility, doesn't it ? When you meet Oroboros in the Simulated Universe, the Log Entry states the following :
…Oroboros the Voracity! THEY are reserved and uncommunicative, occasionally resulting in unintended consequences when attempting to speak — such as inadvertently consuming THEIR interlocutors.
IX is also reserved and uncommunicative. Remember the first time we met them in the Simulated Universe ? Herta had to cheer us up with falsities because we were swallowed by IX.
IX: You feel yourself being swallowed by some black liquid — a sea of darkness. Your hearing and smell are cut off, and everything becomes far away from you.
Looking at it this way, it seems there's a possible link between Nihility and Voracity. But it doesn't quite stop there, not really.
To understand, we need to backpedal for a bit.
In the chapter Stranger in a Stranger Land of the Penacony Quest, we had the option to bid our farewells to Acheron. During this exchange, we learned of her true goal :
Acheron: In order to fight against the cruel end of self-destruction, I went on a journey, in search of a way to sever the chains of the Nihility. After a long and grueling search, I am convinced that my destination lies within the depths of the Dark Web, where reality and the Nihility are separate.
Acheron: In there lurks a secret called "Device IX"... One day, I'll reach it.
This is a reference to a term known as Horizon of Existence in the Data Bank, the boundary between existence and Nihility marking the "end of reality".
Legend has it that a mysterious faction known as Device IX lurks in the empty reflections of void, difficult to be perceived by the material world. Those who gaze into the void for a long time will gradually be drawn to the dark energy overflowing in the abyss, eventually passing through the Dark Web that separates reality from nothingness — This legend has yet to be proven, though.
So, Device IX is most likely roaming free on the other side of said Horizon of Existence. Saif Horizon of Existence being this :
An eclipse, a darkened sun, a black sun setting.... A star drowning into a sea of darkness.
Do you know what Leviathan feed on ?
Shattered Star Bait : Before the Dusk Wars, the exploded fragments born out of the expansion of disordered nebulas could be used as lures, and their unique aroma of cosmic dust could attract Leviathans to feed on them.
So : Oroboros is nicknamed "the black hole with thought", inadvertently consume THEIR interlocutors, believes that life is a flickering fragment floating in the sea of void and destined to return to the darkness...
And where exactly is this darkness ?
This darkness is within the depths of THEIR mouths.
Forget taking a dive inside IX, there's a real chance to be more successful in reaching the Border of Nihility by plunging directly in Oroboros' goddamn stomach. In any way, both solutions look like a one way road towards the End.
But also, not really. Because the Aeon of the Voracity is named Oroboros. Which is originally a symbol of a snake bitting its own tail, thus representing Eternity.
The oroboros is believed to be a symbol of cyclicality, a cycle of life, death and rebirth. Something I think to be intesting is the existence of this symbol in Ancient Egypt, most particularly in the tomb of Tutankhamun.
The ouroboros is depicted twice on the figure: holding their tails in their mouths, one encircling the head and upper chest, the other surrounding the feet of a large figure, which may represent the unified Ra-Osiris (Osiris born again as Ra). Both serpents are manifestations of the deity Mehen, who in other funerary texts protects Ra in his underworld journey. The whole divine figure represents the beginning and the end of time. [Wikipedia]
(However, besides Mehen, there's another well known snake deity associated to Ra : Apophis or Apep.... continuously trying to devour the sun.)
Looking at Hoyoverse and their love of Samsara and the less than subtle hints we've got about Fuli making a repository of the memory of the universe to prepare the impending doom or Qlipoth (Preservation) creating a wall to keep the Leviathans OUT...
I'm starting to wonder if what's inside the Leviathan's mouth, rather than being the separation between existence and Nihility, it wouldn't be between one universe's existence and the yet-to-happen or already happened birth of another universe.
Addendum : Everything is slowly coming together RIGHT UNDER OUR NOSES.
"Device IX is real. Go find it ! There lies all of Dr. Primitive's secrets !" — Some Drunken Galaxy Ranger
Who's the new 2.6 quest all about ? Dr. Primitive.
Where does the 2.6 quest happens ? In Penacony, where we were previously fully introduced to the concept of Nihility thanks to Acheron, a Self-Annihilator and where we also first met the elusive Galaxy Rangers, first Boothill and then Rappa.
Funnily enough, we do have this quote in Izumo's Planar Set :
Was it yet another appalling experiment by Dr. Primitive, or was it a sign of the Voracity returning from the end of the Cosmos ?
Dr. Primitive is the member #64 of the Genius Society, an Emanator of Erudition, and a notorious criminal who was known for his mastery of gravity-capture technology.
Do you remember that some members of our crew were just on an errand for another member of the Genius Society ? #81 Ruan Mei ?
And what was that quest about ?
DELIVER LEVIATHAN FOSSILS TO RUAN MEI.
